Environmental Profile of CBA (Copper-Boron-Azole)-Treated Wooden Utility Poles: A Developing Country Case

Wood poles are popular and are used worldwide in the power supply industries because of their high strength per unit weight, low installation and maintenance costs, and local availability. However, the environmental sustainability which is another required criterion to appreciate the whole quality of wood utility poles has until now not received attention from the developing countries’ research community. To overcome this lack of interest, this study investigates the gate-to-grave life cycle environmental impacts, related to CBAtreated wooden utility poles used for electricity distribution in a developing country for primary environmental characterization of wood pole related operations. The gate-to-grave LCA covered four life stages of wood utility pole: shaping, treatment, in-service, and final disposal. Five impact categories have been assessed based on an extensive primary data search through a detailed life cycle inventory. Cameroon was taken as the case study and life stage operation data were taken from the national utility company while inputs and outputs emissions data were taken from literature. Impact category scores were expressed per functional unit which was taken as one 9 m eucalypt saligna pole processed and used in power distribution line with a lifetime of 30 years. The results showed that the following scores of 65.60 kg CO2-eq for global warming, 0.76 kg SO2-eq for acidification, 0.08 kg C2H4-eq for photochemical ozone formation, 2.00 kg 1,4-DB-eq for ecotoxicity, and 60.67 kg for solid waste have been recorded as environmental profile characterization values of a wood utility pole. Furthermore, activities related to the wood pole treatment have been identified as the most environmentally harmful with regard to global warming, acidification, and photochemical ozone formation, while in-service and final disposal life stages recorded the highest values in ecotoxicity and solid waste respectively. In spite of the fact that this study was based both on Cameroonian experience and on worldwide used primary emission data, it yielded good quality data unique for power pole LCA research in third world.